traffic police are gunning for drivers who risk the lives of pedestrians by speeding. Officers are this week using Gatso radar 'guns' to catch motorists who break the law.

Yesterday morning half-a-dozen traffic officers caught more than 80 speeding drivers on the 30mph B4016 Abingdon Road in Didcot, including some who reached speeds of 48mph. They were given the choice paying a £40 fixed penalty fine or visiting a road-safety caravan exhibition.

Drivers opting to visit the exhibition were shown a road safety video and a series of photographs and facts and figures by police and county council road safety officers.

It marked the launch of a series of high-profile speed checks along roads with a history of accidents - often resulting from speed.

Police said the majority of yesterday's offenders were local people who should be aware of the road's speed limit. Steve Jordan, 42, of Roding Way, Didcot, was pulled up when he clocked 38mph on the radar check. He was among a majority who opted for an educational visit to the caravan road safety exhibition rather than pay the fine.

He said: "I agree with what the police are doing, although when I turned into Abingdon Road I did not realise it was a 30mph limit - perhaps there should be some 'Kill Your Speed' signs along the road."

Anthony Fryer, of Bristol, was on his way to Rycotewood College, Thame, when he was caught by the Gatso camera gun doing 37mph.

"I was following at the same speed as cars in front of me," said Mr Fryer. "It was only the third time I have been along the road and did not realise it was a 30mph limit."

Police are not revealing where the other speed checks will take place, although officers and their patrol cars will again be in full view.

The Abingdon Road is a popular commuter route to Abingdon and Oxford, as well as for Didcot-bound drivers from the opposite direction. Last year, a young cyclist was killed in an accident on his way to school. There were also eight other serious crashes and countless minor accidents along a three-quarter-mile stretch of the Abingdon Road.

Sgt Ken Antell said: "The intention is to heighten public awareness of the dangers of speed through education and enforcement.

"Motorists who moderately exceed the speed limit are offered the choice of either attending a nearby exhibition, the theme of which is Kill Your Speed, or receiving a £40 fixed penalty ticket with three penalty points."

High speeds were not necessarily the problem along Abingdon Road and at other places where the speed check operation is being carried out. But Sgt Antell said research showed a pedestrian struck by a vehicle travelling at between 40mph and 44mph either had virtually no chance of surviving, compared to an 80 per cent survival rate for pedestrians hits by cars travelling at 30mph.

Ian Harris, Oxfordshire County Council's principal road safety officer, said statistics showed road safety was gradually improving in the county although fatal accidents still averaged nearly one-a-week.

"The financial cost of injury accidents to the community was more than £105m last year," said Mr Harris.

Last year 48 people were killed in accidents on Oxfordshire's roads - the same figure as in 1996. But serious accidents rose from 265 to 293 and minor incidents went up from 2,203 to 2,268.

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